"SQWIBS Urban Garden Adventure 2019"

[SQWIBB]

July 16th, 2019



The tomatoes have been absolutely nuts, I have been giving them away 5 pounds at a time. The rodents have been getting maybe 1 out of every 8, I usually just leave them there for when they come back and so far has been working out pretty good.


My Black Beauty eggplants are not doing well, Fruit is still small and some are rotting on the plants. So far I have harvested 1 medium and 2 small from the BB's and about 4 have rotted.


The Listada di Gandia have some decent fruit on one of the plants and the Rosa Bianca in the planter has been awesome.



The okra keeps getting away from me, once you see a small pod you need to stand there and watch it, lol.


I have noticed some black spots on my Concord Grapes, I will have to keep an eye on it.
Nothing from my Cantaloupes but do have one Butternut Squash.


The cucumbers have been producing fairly well.


The peppers have been so-so, not getting much from them yet, however the pepper plants in the pond are doing real well.



Everything looks healthy (GREEN) and is growing nicely

[SQWIBB]

July 19th - 28th, 2019



Headed to OC MD for a week vacation, I had a few people harvesting the garden while I was gone.
Picked one last crop for vacation.

When we got home Saturday, I was all set to unpack and tend to the garden, however, there was an issue when I got home, apparently the fridge was off (circuit breaker tripped) and all the food went bad, I buy a lot of bulk meats and slice myself and had just picked up a bunch of meat from restaurant depot to slice some meats for our vacation.

After a few hours cleaning the refrigerator I tended to the garden a bit, but just to pick tomatoes, I wasn't in a very "happy gardening" mood. I did harvest the okra because most pods were past being edible, if the okra is about 3-4" and snaps off easily, I will use them.

It's amazing how much stuff can grow when your not watching it, lol

Lots of rain in Philly this past week, I had a few tomatoes split, one of my friends stopped by Thursday and picked 15 or so tomatoes, then Friday another buddy stopped by and picked another 15+ and texted me and said there were tomatoes everywhere, he picked a few for the neighbor also.

After the Saturday harvest I decided I will be making sauce again this year, I originally wasn't going to make sauce because my family prefers the taste of the store bought over my sauce which was very acidic/tart last batch.

I plan on changing up my recipe and method this year to see if I can cut the acid taste a bit.

I started picking out the damaged and very ripe tomatoes then cored, halved them then froze in batches. Since my freezer is completely empty, I have the room to freeze quite a bit of tomatoes.

Roasted Poblano, tomato, egg and cheese club sandwich for breakfast

Another garden breakfast

Turkey, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and cheese, clubs for dinner.

Grill cheese with tomato and fried eggplant.

[Dewayne mater]

I think those peppers labelled pepperoncinni are Shi★★★★o based on the shape. An oven roasted Shi★★★★o with olive and salt prior to roasting is one of my favorite vegetables - if you try it, don't roast too much, you don't want them mushy, just soft. Your entire set up is just gorgeous. I'm jealous and inspired! Well done!

Hilarious - forgot about the bad langauge checker. S-h-i-s-h-i-t-o peppers.

[arnorrian]

Wonderful garden. I'm envious.

[Gerardo]

Counter full of sandwiches looks killer, hell yeah. Nice.

[SQWIBB]

July 31ST, 2019


Harvested some more tomatoes and Okra, it's just too hot out to do any type of gardening but I've been pushing myself to try and get out every day for the Okra and every other day for the tomatoes. The ripe tomatoes are being washed, cored, halved and frozen for canning day.

I'm still not able to break the 1.5 pound mark on the tomatoes, but I'm close.

I started slicing and freezing the okra for Gumbo.

My pepper plants in the pond are doing real well, actually better than the plants in the Raised beds and Hugelkultur beds.

Finally got a few Cantaloupes showing up, hopefully they'll take.

Tried the Concord grapes and they are starting to have a bit of sweetness to them. Trimmed both grapevines a bit.

I have been using some of my kitchen scraps for mulch.

[Barb_FL]

Everything looks great. You are growing quite a variety and your tomato harvest looks robust. Watch out for caterpillars on your melons.

[SQWIBB]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Everything looks great. You are growing quite a variety and your tomato harvest looks robust. Watch out for caterpillars on your melons.

Thanks

[SQWIBB]

My butternut squash invaded two of my neighbors yards. It's been an odd year for my eggplants, usually my Black Beauty eggplants are huge and loaded, this year some are rotting right on the plant.
The concord grapes are sweet, I may pick this weekend. I'm a little pi$$ed that they are not seedless, I guess quality control at Stark Bros. is lacking. My reliance grapes are seedless and they're also sweet but the color is supposed to be pinkish, maybe Stark Bros screwed that up too?

Finally got enough peppers to start Lacto Fermenting, I'm going to also pickle a batch for comparison.

August 5th, 2019


The "ripe" Tomatoes coming off have slowed down a bit but not the plant growth, I got quite a few green maters that will probably start to ripen all at once.

Picked some grapes.

My Dad wanted some pickled Eggplant so Laura made a few jars.
Planted my other Pomegranate tree by the pond.

Harvested my Jimmy Nardello peppers for dinner hors d'oeuvres Sunday, the peppers in the pond planters were decent size but not as big as the raised bed peppers, however the pond peppers were much more productive.

Harvested a few more Hungarian Wax Peppers for my Ferment jar.

Fertilized everything with a 10-10-10, I usually don't fert anything other than my pots but will be fertilizing everything about three times a year.

Still picking, slicing and freezing my Okra.

Decided it was time to some thinning and trimming.

Ripped out the Blackberries by the peach tree and put in a Chokeberry plant.
Planted some Broccoli seeds

Kicked back with a beer after the yardwork was completed.

[taboule]

Everything looking nice, enjoying the good life.

[SQWIBB]

August 11th, 2019




Tried the pickles after 4 days (recipe suggested 4 days) and they were salty and still had a slight cucumber taste but not sour enough. I'm going to test them again next weekend.


No bats in the Bathouses yet.


The fig tree on the deck has exploded and is loaded with figs.


Still picking, slicing and freezing Okra, I have been trying to get out twice a day, especially on the weekends.


My perennial Herb Garden is doing real well.



Tomatoes are still setting fruit but everything is green, I'm getting a ripe tomato or two a day. Mostly on my Abe Lincolns. The Big Beef and Beefmaster plants are growing taller every day.



The garden is pretty much just coasting right now. I'm getting less sun on some of my beds, so I'm trying to take advantage of that.



Planted some of My Rocky Top Lettuce Mix and some Romaine in the side hugel bed, sacrificed a Black Beauty eggplant plant that wasn't doing much of anything to make room for the lettuce.


I have had a rough time with my Black Beauty Eggplants this year, some of the fruit just starts rotting. I have had the most luck with my Rosa Bianca Eggplant.
It's also been a bad year for peppers but I believe some of that was my fault (planting out too early) and the Aphid Problem.



I tied back the Asparagus because it was covering the walkway into the yard.


I caved and Installed a "root" bed. I was a bit reluctant to do so, but I usually end up throwing a grow bag up here on the step anyhow. I also caved and picked up two bags of Kellog Raised Bed Mix and a bag of Black Kow. I usually get my compost and mulch from the city recycle center.

In the bottom of the new bed I tossed in some grass clippings, an old eggplant plant and some spent cut flowers, topped with a bag of Kellogs, then a bag of Black Kow then another bag of Kellog, mixed real well and watered.



The bed was planted with Red Beets, this will be my last attempt at red beets.

Ripped out the SVB vacation home, I'm still unsure what plant this was. I did have another plant that looks to be a cantaloupe, I left that in the ground to see what happens.


I have diligently been checking on the Cantaloupe and Butternut Squash and I don't see any issues with SVB's or Squash bugs yet.


Nothing like spending quality time with your daughter picking Maggots!

Sweet Revenge.

We also made sure their vacation home was destroyed.

Some more unwanted critters.

The reason I will not be growing Beefmaster next year.

Made some Cowboy Candy and a Cowboy Candy Chutney (experiment). For the chutney I roasted a Red Marconi and some poblanos, chopped then added the Cowboy Candy Syrup and water-bath canned.

[Hensaplenty]

Squash bugs were bad here! Had some pickle worm too! Ugggh. Squash is so difficult to grow because of the pest load here. Your place looks great as usual!

[SQWIBB]

Thank you

[Rajun Gardener]

It's looking good as usual!!

Is that the Celeste I sent you? It's looking happy and healthy.

[SQWIBB]

Yes that is the Celeste you sent, it is loaded with figs. Thank you for sending them.
I have two more on the hill 1/4 that size. I'll be giving one away. I also have a Celeste fig from mail order that is growing nicely 1/2 the size of yours but 0 figs.


I'm in zone 7a, do you think I have enough time for them to ripen? October 24th is my first frost.